Here is a response post that is beginning to become sort of a chain. A few days ago Matt Low of WoW.com, World of Matticus, and founder of the No Stock UI posted a topic in response to Llyra from the Healing Way a Resto Shamans Blog. The post was basically the bonehead what not to do as a Resto Shaman so you dont get NERD Raged from your party and group members, up to possibly kicked depending on their level of affection for you. Matt Low responded with his post referring to another healing class after the Resto Shaman and gave his dont’s for a Priest. After reading both posts it donned on me that I happen to play yet another healing class which is the Holy Paladin. So in order to add to this chain of events and to promote great site chains I will give my own version of “don’t be that guy”, but for the Holy Paladin. Please continue reading. Obviously this is the third version of this post and there are definitely some bonehead dont’s that pertain to us all which I will repeat here, as well as the reverse effects of some which can be viewed as a two way street. So Lets kick this off with Dont Be That Paladin Who:

….Who drops his Judgement on the pull before the mob even reaches the Tank. Ive seen it a hundred times tank taunts, Pally judges, big orange “Change Target” flashes across the screen and now you have a happy tank thinking hes holding aggro with that little bit of consecration while the holy pally is building as much healing aggro as possible trying to stay alive without healing the raid. Now the tank realizes whats going on runs over to the Holy Pally who seems to be ablaze with invisible fire (Think Taladega Nights) and guess what now his AOE is not doing anything and the mages are bombing away on it cause they feel no responsibility to let up for anyone.  Healer blames tank, tank blames healer, everyone hates the holy pally.

….Who blows Divine Plea every time it comes off cool down. Yes Divine Plea is a very great tool, and there are many fights where it is necessary to use it.  However some heavy hitters are taken down quickly which means you blow Divine Plea in the middle of one of those fights you just put yourself in a 15 second crutch which you may not be able to pull yourself out of. Fights like Mimiron where there is a lag in action is a great time to blow your Divine Plea, not fights like say Patchwerk was where it was a gear check and you needed to be constantly casting those big heals. (I know were past Naxx but it was the example I could think of)

….Who clicks. Aside from your healbot or your cliques addon do you need to click your UI bars at all?  A few short mouse over macros and 4 frames is all you really need.  I keep salvation handy as a mouse over so if I see a caster get hit I just throw it on them, or if my healing aggro is high I throw salvation right after a judgment to bring it down, divine shield mouse over, cleanse hot keyed mouseover, your judgment, holy shock mouse over and of course that bubble should be near by.  My Exorcism is usually a pinky’s reach away along with my Holy Wrath and I keep in mind there are fights it is necessary to use them. Clicking diverts your attention know where your keys are, and don’t get caught standing in purple stuff, red stuff, brown stuff, orange stuff, cold stuff, or any kind of stuff that you could possibly be standing in that will hurt, maim, or kill you. Mouse overs combines with Grid, Heal Bot, VuhDu etc. are a win.

….Who shows up to raid with no Symbols. That’s kings or divinity as a matter of fact don’t show up with out buff food, flasks, gems, chants or anything else that will give you a competitive advantage to help your guild progress.  I know in our guild if you show without gems in a new piece of gear our raid leader will sit you.

….Who doesn’t understand the effects of Hand of Sacrifice. HOS is a great tool in fact I have a macro that is set to automatically blow it every time I bubble its on a 2 minute cool down while the bubble is 5 minutes.  HoS is not to be used lightly I laughed so hard to see a holy pally try to figure out its use only to realize that 30% of the tanks health was a large chunk of his own.  HoS is great when combined with the bubble, but is fail in the hands of a healer who cant figure out its proper use.

….Who wants to impress the DPS. You are a healer it is your role, you keep people alive.  Yes we all want to do some damage and I am not saying do your part, but know the encounter as Matt Low described if the mobs like to whirlwind and your up dropping consecration and doing melee while you heal then your face shall meet the floor my friend.  Not to mention healers can pull a decent amount of aggro from healing alone.  Safe to keep it at a distance.

….Who cant remember to buff people after a rez or wipe. I am the biggest perpetrator of this and thank god there is enough people constantly checking on it.  Where is my Pally buffs, then the raid leader doesn’t even have to ask he just says “Bless”. 30 minutes is 30 minutes I just did it right before the last wipe.  Thank god they made Auoras persist through death or I would have to add that to this list.

….Who rolls on gear they never intend to use (another repost). Come on are you really going to tank PVE, DPS PVP, and DPS Raids, there are other people who need gear don’t hassle about it unless its all passed on.  This mainly goes for 5 man pugs as most people have a loot system in their guild.  I like our loot council system some people hate it.   To add to this don’t whine about the loot system this is something that should have been explained or that you asked about before you entered the guild.  I suggest DKP for younger guilds our guild is very mature and the loot council works great because there really isn’t favoritism at all.

….Who Divine Interventions a completely useless player. To go against my clicking don’t, I do have my DI just sitting in my right bar but it is set to macro usually to another healer I know can rez.  If that healer is down then I try to find another, be aware of the classes you play with it will help and if you know your guildies well and know the fights you can find them. Another no no is to DI a player right on top of where the boss resets.  I love it when the player waits the boss is chasing people then people start running in, they remove the DI and now the entire instance is jacked up.  Everyone arrives and they cant enter the area.

….Who doesn’t use Auroas properly. If your not putting up Frost Auora on Hodir then you are wrong nuff said.