"U come heal us is AN"

Healing, oh bittersweet joy. Random whispers from unknown players... all assuming that you will jump to the chance to go healing.

You know, i do love healing. But it isn’t always a joy. There is this thing called PuG. Something I shun like other people shun asparagus/gnomes since I hit level cap. Why is that you might wonder? Personally it’s my view that the healer has the worst time in a bad PuG. When the tank is undergeared, the dps is trigger happy the healer is a wet puddle on the instance floor, struggling to keep the joke of a team up. Not seldom to the sneers and accusations from the group. A good tank is always a good tank and can save a party from the most disasterous mayhem of loose aoe and a stray shot pull. And as an dps... you proabably get a few remarks and probably some comment about inadequate dps... even if the tank/healer is horrible undergeared/lack skill/social manners. But it’s no way near as distressing as going as healer.

Now healing a group of friends and /or guildies is a whole different story. Everyone know their place and their task, there is no competetion. You know people take steps to keep you safe in all situations. That they will come to your aid when you been foolish and managed to pull half an instance cause you had a case of YDD. In a party of friends I know that I might need to be ready to put an extra HoT or basicly everything I have in stock on a player that might hit a crit spree and suddenly have a face full of mob. For a friend we have that extra care.

In a PuG... Mr Platebrain tries and swat a mob to death with what must be a blunt stick while the dps managed to 1, pull an extra group and patrol 2, didnt let tank build aggro so all mobs plays tag with the dps... with a special set of rules. In a PuG no one cares if the warlock you never met before dies (except the warlock) cause of meter psycos. Well... almost doesn’t care. I do have my pride as a healer. But some people just cant be helped. You never know what you get in a PuG. But I want the safety in knowing that the tank keeps an eye backwards that my friends in case of need will forget all about dps and number ratings and rush to save me from a squishy death. So it’s a huge safety.. and often a lot of fun to go with friends.

But yet, as fond as I am of them, some of my darling guildies/friends doesn’t seem to know exactly why I get an allergic reaction when the subject PuG comes up (or someone mentions instance achivements... another of my big in game allergies). Something my dps friends doesnt seem to grasp is how big the toll is on me as a healer. Or the frustration of a bad PuG. Healing a badly geared group, or a party of hotheads is absolutly exhausting. A typical PuG is very spammy for me. I’m almost always casting something and must be fully focused the whole time. It’s 100% or people start to drop In a PuG you often get more fragile players... the gears often aren’t up to heroic instance standard. Or you just get morons that think pulling aggro of the tank is a proof of their awesomeness and that makes my job very hard indeed. Two hit and your dead not defense caped tanks/badly geared trigger happy dps usally means I have to keep HoTs ticking on multiple targets, PoM jumping around, shields and heals. So suddenly I need to be psychic aswell and know when to throw heals on the little eager glass cannon before he pull aggro from the tank. And apart from that I need to protect my own rear, focus on all life bars and from the partys position be prepaired from additional hazards and mobs. It is very draining to be that attentive and aware. And at the same time I’m being called “noob” and other nice things from ignorant players that doesn’t have a clue how healing works or what I’m going through.

Healing isnt hard, but it’s intense. If my focus drift I can easily loose a player in a heart beat. So I just have the energy to carry a PuG through an instance. And not to mention the costs of all mana potions and drinks I use up during a run... The mana it takes to keep them up just is ridiculous... Especially compaired to a nice smooth guildrun.

So, just say no to PuGs... and be nice to your healer. Or you will find yourself without a healer. Cause I know for sure dps is so relaxing to play in comparison