How do you measure the performance of your healers?
by Elizabeth Harper 
Sep 28th 2007 at 7:55PM
With DPS, this question is simple. You can take a glance at your damage meter of choice and see how much damage they've done, perhaps combined with how much damage they've taken (hitting the top of the damage meters may be impressive -- but if the only way to do that involves being a major drain on your healers' mana, it might be better for your group as a whole if you cut back), and can have a pretty good idea of how they're performing. On the other hand, measuring a healer's performance is a bit more ethereal, as discussed in depth today on Priestly Endeavors. Of course, you can watch the healing meters, but they don't tell the entire story of a good healer. What about mana management? The 5-second rule? Heal timing? (Heal too soon and you're overhealing and wasting mana -- but heal too late and you may not have anyone to heal at all.) Kirk on Priestly Endeavors breaks it down into the data you'd want to see to completely determine healer effectiveness:- The health of every party member over time.
- Information on every heal that was cast and when it was cast (including things like Power Word: Shield which usually aren't counted).
- The healer's mana over time.
Filed under: Druid, Paladin, Priest, Shaman, Analysis / Opinion
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Pål Sep 28th 2007 8:00PM
The health left in the party combined with the mana the priest has left, divided by the totals of those?
Ash Sep 28th 2007 8:33PM
How is a healer with a lot of mana at the end of a fight better than one on empty? You don't get any bonus points for leftover mana. If a run ends with everyone alive, healer = good enough, and vice versa.
popeguilty Sep 28th 2007 8:39PM
I'd question the DPS metric on the grounds that Shadow Priests have this problem of having one of their nukes damage the caster.
vern Sep 28th 2007 8:41PM
Mana left at the end of a fight = lost potential.
If you can afford to have mana left at the end of a fight that means you went HPM instead of HPS.
Because this is the real deal: finding a balance between HPM (healed per mana point) with HPS (Healed per second).
You have to know where you are in the fight, how long more its going to last. From that you manage your priorities. Main Tanks first, or you widen your priorities, throwing a fast cast on a clothie.
Oh yeah, the casting speed is actually a factor too and that is not showed by HPM or HPS or meters.
VegasHorde Sep 28th 2007 8:47PM
Healing performance also depends on the rest of the party:
1- Rogues that get too much aggro and need more heals than they possibly should
2- Locks that expect heals after they transfer their health to mana
3- Warriors that either don't sunder or insist on using a two hander
4- Hunters that have never heard of defensive pets
5- Mages that don't use omen or klh threat meter and over nuke
Of course I am mostly referring to pugs here
Nathan Sep 28th 2007 8:49PM
I know this is about raiding, but I just got out of a nasty sunken temple PUG so here's my personal metric:
"Are you dead?"
"Then shut the hell up."
Dave Sep 28th 2007 8:59PM
I agree with #6.
Did you die? Did anyone die? Did you have to blow a pot, waste a long cooldown or have to heal yourself in some fashion that otherwise made it seem like the healer wasn't around or working to their fullest potential without any mitigating circumstances beyond their control?
If yes: Bad healer.
If no: Good healer.
Same as tanks. You don't need a shortsighted DPS epeen meter to show you that you're doing a good job. DPS classes have to have that sort of thing, since damage done over the course of a fight is the only way of determining if they're doing anything at all really.
It's pretty easy though to figure out which healers are doing a good job and which ones aren't. Mana left? Who cares? Overheals? As long as they didn't run out of mana, it doesn't matter does it? Those things are also gear based, so it stands to reason that a better geared healer will have more available mana to heal with right? The ones with better gear may just throw a few more crit heals and overheals, since their gear allows for it kinda easily. Then there's the gear of the targets... wherin a smart tank will take less damage than a bad tank and a well geared tank will take less damage and all the other variables that add up to proving that two healers in the same raid with the same gear may not even be able to match up with each other on different targets in a metric that's quantifiable enough to actually measure anything worthwhile. Unlike DPS targets, where 5-10 people are focused on the exact same target, so it's a very very easily quantifiable number to show who's doing a better job.
Healers are good when people don't die. Period.
Ceeline Sep 28th 2007 9:28PM
Well what we use in my guild is a combination of armory and Wow Web Stats.
Armory is simple: Healer in full Kara-gear with Exalted Violet Eye reputation is surely someone who attended many raids and could keep its tanks up for every run. Else, he would have been kicked or replaced right?
Wow Web Stats (www.lossendil.com/wws/) is a bit more complicated: You can verify many things about any healers like HPS, OH, Pots & Flasks, healing in thrash or just boss? etc.
Mainly, if you assign a healer to heal the MT, you can see, with WWS, if that person healed the MT or healed everything low-hp to bust the meter.
Justin Sep 28th 2007 9:40PM
This has been communicated by others already, but it's worth repeating.
If you beat the encounter than the healers did their job.
Although, it's a little more complicated than that.
If the healer required outside influence to continue healing (pots, innervate, mana tide, etc.) then they might not have been completely effective Then again there are fights that require all these resources to be expended. Nightbane, for those still in Karazhan, is one of those encounters. There's a delicate balance.
However, if a Paladin runs out of mana before your priests or druids than you can pretty much guarantee they are a terrible healer.
Overhealing is also a good measurable tool to use to determine whether or not the healer knows how to anticipate when heals are needed.
Joshiepoo Sep 28th 2007 9:41PM
To say "the only good healer is a healer who doesn't let anyone die" is not a good reason unless your in a 5 man where the pulls are significantly easier than in raids.
Kara is an extremely hard raid for healers. The first boss that proves my point is Moroes. Not only do healers have to keep one of the adds shackled, but you have to use extra mana to keep whoever has been garroted from dying. There are only four ways to 100% remove the garrote which are Divine Shield (pally), Blessing of Protection (pally), Ice block (mage), and Stoneform (dwarf racial).
The next troublesome fight for the Priest would have to be the Maiden of Virtue. She has a dot "Holy Fire" which the priest has to instantly decurse. To make matters worse the Maiden has a silence spell Repentance which taken from WoWhead (Puts all players in a state of meditation, incapacitating them for up to 12 sec. Any damage caused will awaken the target. Also deals about 1500-2000 holy damage. She casts Repentance at random intervals, but no more often than 25 seconds. This affects all players. This effect cannot be dispelled, but several abilities can make you immune to it. Does not hit her current target.) So not only does she have a killer DoT but if not dispelled quick enough Repentance can come along and do some major damage to the melee classes.
Justin Sep 28th 2007 9:43PM
Also, just because someone died doesn't mean the healer didn't do their job. I know I've been faced with the decision to either keep the tank up or to let a DPS die, and it's not always an easy one to make. Most of the time I will sacrifice a DPS player when it means that we survive the encounter as a whole.
Idu Sep 28th 2007 10:38PM
If a good healer is the one being able to keep everyone alive, that means the rest of the group has to excell at their jobs aswell. No over-aggros, no loose trash or adds, tank knowing what needs to be done, and so on. If the rest of the group sucks, no healer can keep them alive no matter how good or how epic. Hey, if you wanna jump off the cliff, go ahead and do so, but dont blame the healer when you die.
Memzer Sep 28th 2007 10:44PM
Be glad you're on a server where you can rate your healers ;)
People are so desperate for healers and tanks on my server that even if they muck around they won't be chastised (at least for content up to SSC anyway :)
Argall Sep 28th 2007 11:01PM
It's really hard to measure in raids because everything is so dependent on each other. A healer is just as good as the tank he's healing. And DPS is essential because the faster the boss dies, the better chance you'll have of finishing the fight before the healer's mana runs out.
So.. its hard. By design, healing isn't a competition like DPS is so its extremely hard to rate.
jaxson_bateman Sep 28th 2007 11:35PM
I've skimmed over a few comments and seen a few things along the lines of "everyone alive = good healer; people dying = bad healer". This is absolute BS if you ask me. There are four other people (in a 5 man group) and you're going to place all the blame on the healer? Easy way to make sure none of them want to group with you.
The tank may not be able to hold aggro, or may be undergeared. The dps may constantly pull aggro, or may pull additional mobs at inopportune times. And, yes, the healer may not do their job well enough.
In a 5 man, the real question is, "did the healer keep everyone alive whilst they were all doing their roles properly?". If yes, they are a good healer. If they keep everyone alive whilst other members are causing the aforementioned problem, they are doing a great job.
From my own personal experience, I joined a PuG Bot run. During the run the rogue and hunter kept pulling aggro (these are the last two classes that should ever get unwanted aggro), and at one stage the Warr tabbed out of WoW whilst standing in the path of a pat. Sure enough, it aggro'd, as did the group nearby, and we wiped. Aside from that, nobody died. However, after the first boss, I looked at the damage taken and healing taken meters. The four other members of the party had taken more damage and healing than the tank (the tank should take the most by far in a good run). So I said "thanks and so long", and left. The point is, had I let anyone die, you could hardly blame me for it.
So yes, before you look at the healer's competency, look at the rest of the party first. You may find that there was nothing the healer could have done to prevent the death.
quaunaut Sep 28th 2007 11:35PM
I'd say the best way is, "How comfortable is the tank."
If the tank is checking his healer's mana constantly, he knows that the healer has limits. If he goes willy nilly...he doesn't care 'cause there aren't any limits.
Then you get the tanks that when they see certain healers join the group, either kick or drop, 'cause they know that they're gonna have a nice repair bill afterward.
Its all the tank's opinion.
Andelorn Sep 28th 2007 11:40PM
Repentance does jack to melee if they're in the Consecrate, especially with a Paladin healer and Blessing of Sacrifice. It's healing everyone who isn't as squishy as the melee back up after Repentance that sucks. And catching the Holy Fire. Ugh.
Jardinity Sep 28th 2007 11:43PM
This is a pet pieve of mine. Im tired of competing against folks who use a Mod to heal with. the true measure of a healer is 1) during s boss fight the tank stays alive 2) during a wipe you keep healing til very end and are one of last to die 3) you know when to heal and when not.
stats on who healed the most is just an ego trip just like top dps it means nothing. a great healer does his job, doesnt draw agro and even heals other healers on side. he takes his gear seriously and acts like healing is all there is in the game and bends to the moment and not just blindly healing he adjusts to what is happening around him that is a great healer
Justin Sep 29th 2007 12:21AM
@18 "2) during a wipe you keep healing til very end and are one of last to die"
Uhh...if the raid leader calls a wipe you stop healing so you can get back and start the encounter again as fast as possible. I hate it when other healers are the last ones back to the boss, especially since we have to buff everyone too.
gozerthagozerian Sep 29th 2007 3:07AM
I agree with the comments that stress the survival of the party and its members as the most important gauge, but I also think comment #5 has a lot of merit because a healer can't always compensate for bad tanks who can't keep aggro, or bad rogues and mages who can't control their threat. It doesn't take much experience in PUG groups to know that even at 70 there are plenty of both.
And I'd also argue that DPS classes can't always be asessed purely by damage meter statistics. Enhancement Shaman do respectable DPS, but they also increase the DPS of rogues, warriors, druids and Ret pallies by around 30%, providing a massive boost to melee groups. Yet there remains a big stigma against taking them on raids because of their lack of CC.