PREFACE

There is one discussion that inevitably comes up when any two healers, whether the same class or not, talk for a while: “so, how do you typically heal? What addons do you use? Is your screen as cluttered as mine?”

This series of posts is not intended to try to say that there is only one way to heal, or one set of addons that works. In the end it all comes down to what works for each person and what is comfortable. This is my approach, and I typically find it helpful to hear how others do things in order to see if there is something else one can learn or do better.

This is part one, in which I explore setting up a UI that works for you. Part two will focus on the various healing styles and techniques that I encounter most. Part three will explain my healing style, as well as provide tips and tricks on how I approach healing.

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ADDONS (Building a UI that works for you!)

Full UI Image for Reference:

Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!

I like to have a very clean, neat UI in appearance, but that does come at the expense of running a number of addons in order to achieve the appearance I want. These are the ones I recommend looking into most, with an idea of why (and in some cases alternatives that could prove better suited depending on personal preference):

• ag_UnitFrames
  (Alternatives: X-Perl, PitBull)
  Some type of unit frame modifier is, by all means, not necessary. I do not like the look of the default Blizzard UI. For a long time I used X-Perl, but I really wanted something a little cleaner and more lightweight in memory usage. In addition, I wanted the ability to hide the party frame at all times instead of just in a raid setting. For me, ag_UnitFrames has the best overall look, and provides all of the functionality I wanted.
  
• Bartender4
  (Alternatives: Dominos, Macaroon)
  This is another area one could argue against having a need to change, especially now that Blizzard includes the ability to toggle additional action bars on-screen with the default UI. I like having a little more control over what changes when I shift into different forms, and I like being able to rearrange and shrink the buttons in order to open up more screen space. Bartender is easy to configure once you understand how the paging options work, and is highly customizable.
  
  Side note: I tried Dominos since it was extremely easy to configure, but I did not like the lack of an easily noticeable out of range indicator. Were it not for that I probably would have swapped to Dominos at that point.
• Buffalo2
  Another addon I use purely for the ability to customize size, location, and appearance. I really have not found a better alternative, though I know of a couple that are basically identical.
  
• DoTimer
  Remember when Grid’s ability to display the Lifebloom timer was broken? I hated having to guess whether I was going to time the end of the stack correctly with all of the lag we were experiencing, and Classtimer was giving me errors left and right. DoTimer was finally updated, and I like the minimalistic appearance it provides. (I only use it for cooldowns now that Grid is working properly again, but it is nice and clean enough to stay in my UI.)
  
• Grid
  Let me start by saying that there are alternatives. I’m not a fanatic who states Grid is the only way to go. I do, however, feel as though Grid is the best way to go. Not only does it provide you with all the relevant information one could ever want to see at a glance, but is is much more flexible than any other alternative I’ve tried.
  
• kg Panels
  I only use this one to create a nice, semi-solid background behind the chat frame. There are simply too many places where the textures make things very difficult to read at a glance, and this is a very simple way to ensure ease of readability.
• Parrot
  (Alternatives: SCT)
  I really don’t feel as though there is an alternative to Parrot, but a lot of people swear by SCT. To me Parrot is much better looking, and it is extremely easy to keep track of important things based upon the direction the text scrolls.
  
• Prat
  PRat is one of those addons that doesn’t seem useful at first, but then you start to grow accustomed to seeing what it provides and cannot fathom going back. Basically, if you do not use any type of chat addon then I would not recommend worrying about one. For me, the most useful portions are the automatic color coding or names in chat, and the display of friend notes when people sign on (sometimes I have a tough time keeping track of who is who).
• Quartz
  To be honest, I typically never look at a cast bar on me anyway. There are times when I like to watch it though, and Quartz is a very nice, simple solution for displaying the cast bar in a clean way that fits in with my UI.
  
• Sexymap
  (Alternatives: Squeenix)
  This one really is pure preference. Again, I like a nice, clean look. I also like the ability to hide all those addon buttons/default UI buttons that I would like to keep accessible. Sexymap does this without a problem, and if using Squeenix instead I would use MinimapButtonBag in conjunction.
  

Once your UI looks the way you want, even if you decide the stock Blizzard UI is how you want to go, it is time to decide what style of healing feels most natural. Stick around, I’ll have that article up soon(ish)!

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Coming in Part Two: Healing Styles (Point and Clique? Macros? Keybindings?)