#0 - Nov. 7, 2008, 9:43 a.m.
First, I would like to do an in-depth look at each spell in relation to the other 2 spells. Mana cost will be included, along with duration, but no real look at the amount of healing done, as I do not believe the amount of healing is really the issue with the discussion as of yet. It is a critical topic in reference to adding cooldowns or increasing mana costs, but the whole idea here is just a comparison of the three spells in relation to each other. All level 80 spells will be used as the reference
Wild Growth - Heals up to 5 friendly party or raid members within 15 yards of the target for 1442 over 7 sec. The amount healed is applied quickly at first, and slows down as the Wild Growth reaches its full duration. 23% of base mana, 40 yd range, Instant cast
Circle of Healing - Heals up to 5 friendly party or raid members within 15 yards of the target for 684 to 756. 21% of base mana, 40 yd range, Instant cast
Chain Heal - Heals the friendly target for 1055 to 1205, then jumps to heal additional nearby targets. If cast on a party member, the heal will only jump to other party members. Each jump reduces the effectiveness of the heal by 50%. Heals 3 total targets. 19% of base mana, 40 yd range, 2.5 sec cast
Wild Growth is a HoT based spell to heal up to 5 friendly targets, and CoH is an instant heal spell to heal up to 5 targets, and both of these heal up to 5 friendly targets without any talents. Chain heal however heals only 3 targets, but may jump a lot farther than CoH or Wild Growth. One good idea instead of nerfing the other two spells why not look at Chain Heal a bit.
In comparison to the other spells, one might say lets increase the mana cost of chain heal to 21% just as Circle of Healing has, and in return to balance it out, say Chain Heal hits a total of 5 targets without talents, and the jump only reduces the heal by 10-15% instead of 50%. The increase in cost therefore warrants the buff, and makes the bread and butter spell of Shamans closely resemble the power and utility of the Druid's Wild Growth, and the Priest's Circle of Healing.
Chain Heal in and of itself is already coded as a pretty smart spell. Maybe remove the smart part of Wild Growth and Chain Heal for testing purposes, therefore seeing if this change makes Chain Heal more effective since this is the whole concern of the Shaman community and Blue Posters right now.
Mana costs for most classes is a huge concern, and increasing the cost of Wild Growth or Circle of Healing to any higher than it is makes those two spells almost worthless. I know from a Druid standpoint, as I am a Druid myself for a long time now, Lifebloom was our bread and butter of TBC and it got nerfed so bad, no one really sees the need for the spell anymore.
Wild Growth is our new Lifebloom, but if we lose another good spell, the Druid community is looking at healing like we did before TBC, which was Healing Touch based, and really didn't lend itself to many fights except some of the hardcore stand in one spot fights of Naxx and MC.
Changing the coefficient of either Wild Growth or Circle of Healing really isn't going to be an acceptable band-aid patch either, because Wild Growth has been nerfed already once, and Circle of Healing heals for much less than Wild Growth already by design and statements of the developers.
To sum it up, Chain Heal might need a buff to keep it in line with Wild Growth and Circle of Healing, without totally nerfing the other two, Ghostcrawler. All I ask is the developers to think over this idea, and analyze it for what it is suggesting. Ghostcrawler, maybe buff Chain Heal instead of nerfing the other two, or buff Riptide for Shamans to be more like Wild Growth and get Shamans away from one button healing as you, the developer team, has stated you all don't want one button healers. Give them a reason or two to use more than just Chain Heal.
Thank you for your time.
