|
Most healers realize that we're playing a group sport. We work in teams, we build strategies around complementary assignments, and just about the only thing we're missing is someone shouting "Gooooooaaal!" when the fight ends. :)
This is why, for healers, combat logs get such a bad rap; there's a lot more that goes into healing, and healing in a group, than a simple effective heal number. That doesn't mean, though, that combat logs can't tell us something: both for our personal improvement, and for the strength of our team.
There are a few basic questions we want to answer when looking at the combat logs.
1. Did people die?
2. How can I be a better healer?
3. How well did the healing team as a whole perform?
This third item is pretty complicated: we'll talk about that one in a separate post.
Did people die?
This is what it all comes down to. :) If people lived, you did your job. Go go healer! If they died (which, because we're MOMiTs, is often the case) it's worth taking a look at why. This is tricky, because our roles are often so varied in the raid. I'll try to pull apart some of the common questions.
Did my assigned target die?
If so, take a look at the combat log for the time and cause of death of your target. From guild's page, click on the raid you're interested in reviewing. Then select the boss or attempt you're interested in from the drop down menu that says Full Report.
To the left of that, you'll see a dropdown menu that says Dashboard -- scroll down that menu and click on Deaths Overview.
This brings up a page showing deaths and causes of death for that particular boss or attempt. You can click on "(more)" at the end of the log reporting section to see the full combat log, including heals, around that death.
This should tell you the following:
- Did your target die after you did?
- Did he or she die to an avoidable environmental effect?
- Was there any unexpected damage - either crushing blows, or very powerful abilities, or cleave-type damage?
- How much damage did your target take between the last time you healed him or her and the time of death?
- Did you run out of mana?
Knowing the answers to these questions will let you better prepare for the next time you're assigned to heal someone through that particular fight. Your target is pretty much screwed if you die, so you'll want to know if you could have prevented your own demise. If there's an environmental effect to watch out for, you can discuss positioning with your target in order to prevent some of that damage next time.
If there was any unexpected damage, you'll be able to time your heals to compensate for that better if you know what to look out for in your next fight. If you didn't get many heals on your target at the end, perhaps you were out of mana or you were distracted by lots of raid damage. When you attempt it again, you'll know to ignore the rogue's pleas for help or else! :)
Did I die?
As a healer, your second responsibility is to keep yourself alive. You'll want to take a look at your character sheet. Navigate to the Healing Done report in the Dashboard menu.
Then click on your own name from anywhere on that page. A Character Screen will come up that's all about you! Hooray!
On the page you'll see multiple tabs -- the "deaths" tab will have the information you need. How did you die? Was it from an avoidable environmental effect? Did you take healing aggro at some point in the fight?
Some fights have environmental damage, which healers are notorious for not seeing (hey, we'vev got a lot on our minds!). This may be an area to watch for - sometimes a UI change or a more complete raid healing mod might be in order. Other fights will have aggro dumps - a mistimed large heal can often cause your death in a situation like this (think the gaunlet section in Pit of Saron). You can see if you took too much environmental damage by clicking over to the "damage by spell" tab on your character page.
Did the raid die?
Healers often can't seem to help themselves from healing. Even with assignments, it's a rare one of us who isn't tempted to drop a heal on that squishy mage when it looks like our target is doing all right. This, however, can distract us from our roles. If it looks like many people in the larger raid are dying, see if you can figure out what they're dying from. If it's an environmental effect, that's on the raiders to avoid. But if they're dying from ordinary attacks (say, Shroud of Sorrow on Blood Queen) then it may be time to rethink healing assignments on that particular fight.
How can I be a better healer?
In order to answer this question, we have to know a little bit about what sorts of things make for better healing. There are a number of aspects to this, but it all comes down to efficiency. Are we getting the most we can get out of the mana and time alotted? As long as no one died, and you had mana for the whole fight, then you're doing just fine. But if you're looking to get better, there are a few things we can review.
You can an overview of your healing abilities by selecting the "healing by spell" tab on your character page. That will give you basic information about which spells you cast the most often, and how much overhealing each one contributed.
Am I using my most efficient abilities?
There's a reason we have different healing spells. There's always going to be that one situation where a certain spell is better than another - for instance, a HoT for steady and slow damage versus a large heal. But what about when any old heal will do? Then, the name of the game is efficiency.
This varies drastically by class and spec. Holy priests are going to get more healing per mana used with Prayer of Mending and Circle of Healing, and higher healing per second with Greater Heals and Renews. Paladins often get more out of their little fast heals. It's also very dependent on talents and gear. The best thing to do is find a spreadsheet or guide that can help you figure out how to get the most out of your mana, and adapt your healing style to its recommendations.
So with those caveats, you can see which spells are providing the most HPS on a fight by fight basis in World of Logs. In the Dashboard dropdown menu, select Analyze and Healing Done.
On the far left you'll see a sub-menu, and you can select the "by spell" filter. Choose yourself as a source, and press the Go button. This table will give you HPS numbers for all of your spells, and allow you to see whether you're maximizing your spell selection for any particular fight.
How are my overheal numbers?
Overheal is the icing on the cake. If this is all you're worried about, kudos to you!
The reason healers worry about overheal is because every health point returned over a person's maximum health is, essentially, wasted mana. The trouble is, it's better to drop a big heal and risk overhealing your target (thus keeping them alive) than it is to wait until you're absolutely certain none of your heal will be excessive - an unlucky hit at that point, and suddenly your target is toast.
So the lesson there is that some overheal is good. In Wrath of the Lich King, mana pools have become much less constrained than they were in previous expansions. So generally, people don't worry if you're hitting between 30% and 50% overhealing. (Druids, because of their HoTs, are a special case there.) It's only when you're consistently above 60% or so that you'll want to look at ways to minimize your overheal. Some questions to ask yourself in that situation would be:
- Can you better anticipate damage, so that your heal lands just after it hits (and not just before)? Latency can be an issue here, particularly for priests who use a cast-cancel cycle. Investing in a mod which helps you track that latency, like Quartz, can make a big difference.
- Can you make more effective use of your spells? Look at which particular spell is resulting in the most overheal, and consider whether it would be best to use another spell on that particular fight. This can also be an issue with healing assignments, and might warrant talking to your healing lead.
- Would more defined healing assignments help you, or perhaps a healing assignment more suited to your class?
What else can I find in these logs?
Some other things I find useful in the logs are over on the "buffs gained" tab of your character page. This page can help you determine how often a trinket might be proccing, or whether you're often moving outside the range of a buff like Moonkin Aura. Keep playing around with the logs and you'll soon find your favorite tricks.
Discussing questions like these makes all of us stronger players. Our forums exist to give you the opportunity to explore this information - please feel free to use it to ask questions, or ask for help with the analysis, or even just congratulate yourself and others on a job well done. :)
Additional Resources
If you're looking for some more healer tips and tactics for using the combat log, there are a number of great resources out there.
http://runeforgegossip.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/world-of-logs-your-new-best-friend-even-if-the-old-one-was-cool/
http://bloodelfpriestess.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/how-to-interpret-world-of-logs/
http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2009/06/19/what-can-healing-meters-tell-you/
http://lifeingroup5.com/?p=341
http://www.wow.com/2009/06/18/raid-rx-how-to-read-healing-parses-or-meters/
Stay tuned for Part II, where we discuss some ways for healing leads to determine how well a healing team is performing...
|
