Word of Healing: Rox or Sux?

Word of Healing
Elite Spell. Heal target other ally for 67-84 points (lvl 12-16). Heal for an additional 83-106 points (lvl 12-16) if that ally is below 50% Health.

I've heard many things about this skill and have found using it to be more trouble than it's worth. I'm wondering what your experience with WoH is and whether you think it's essential to a healing build or a waste of an elite slot on your skill bar.

My experiences (assuming 11 Divine Favor, 16 Healing):

1) The additional heal kicks in AFTER everything else possible, so if your ally has 455 health, they would have to have less than 108 health left in order for the bonus heal to activate (and making this a completely useless spell if you use Divine Boon...not that you need Boon on a healing build, mind you, but I've tried most things if not everything ). Unfortunately this means that I rarely get the additional heal with this spell since I try to keep as many people as possible above 50% health if I can.

2) Orison's Healing hits for 73 points and recharges in 2 seconds. That's only 11 points less than WoH and doesn't waste your elite slot. It also recharges 2 seconds faster. I realize that +11 points for +0 energy is a good deal but good enough for an elite spell?

3) If WoH hits, it heals for 225 or so. Heal Other hits for just as much without fail for an extra +5 energy. Of course you can't run around spamming Heal Other but it can act as a flawless WoH to be used in a pinch and free up your elite slot for something else.....maybe something that gives you a little energy management so that casting Heal Other doesn't hurt so badly.

Basically, I've had nothing but crappy experiences with WoH and have found it to be the least helpful "good" elite spell I could add to my bar. I'm not saying there aren't worse elites, not at all. I'm just saying that I could use Spellbreaker, OoB, MoR, or Aura of Faith for that matter. Does anyone actually use WoH and love it like no other? Hell, does anyone have anything good to say at all about it? Am I doing something wrong here?

My first character, which I started at release, was a Monk and it's always been my favorite class for PvE and PvP (with Necro running in close 2nd) so it's not like I have trouble playing the builds or the style. I just fail to see how planning to let an ally get to 20% health just so you can use your elite skill helps your team. Why not grab an elite spell that will help them not get so low in the first place?

Comments? Opinions? Playstyle suggestions?

WoH is a really good healing skill if the monk can use it (i.e: wait till health < 50% before using it)

WOH orison and dwaynas are only 5 energy which are spammable

I agree with you, WoH takes 4 sec. to recherge (heal other 3), and concerning energy, I personally use Glyph of Renewal + Divine spirit, so i have always d. spirit on me making Heal other cost only 5 energy, like WoH. In addition, i can spam other healing spells like dwaynas, orison etc.

My first character was a Mo/N, and I still use her for B/P teams for tomb runs, FOW, guildie help, etc. I used WoH forever until just recently. I run a 16 in HP, and 15 in DF -- there's a reason they call us squishies... .

Anyway, WoH is a great spike heal. I even ran Boon plus WoH which is even a bigger spike. Just have to be careful you don't overheal, which isn't an easy thing to not do.

I recently switched over to OoB as my elite, and I will say I won't be switching back anytime soon. I've substituted Heal Other for my emergency heal, and it seems to be working very well. Cost more mana, but OoB more than compensates.

I find that I simply have more staying power running OoB -- I spam OoB as much as I can, and I've definitely noticed a difference. Currently running 15 in HP, 13 in DF, and 10 in Blood.

So, in short I think there are better options for your elite as a monk.

Quote: Originally Posted by cerb WoH is a really good healing skill if the monk can use it (i.e: wait till health < 50% before using it) unless they fixed this and i didnt notice, that doesnt quite work....

as beat_go said, lets assume the ally has 455 health. they are down to 120, well under 50% health. you cast word of healing. it heals for 84 points, bringing them up to 204 health. then divine favor heals them for 35 more bringing their health to 239.

now WoH checks to see if it should heal for another 106 health but 239 is >50% so it fails the check and does nothing. if they made this spell check the health of your ally before adding any health, it would be a great spell. last i checked tho it still worked the same way...badly.

basically, theyd have to be at 108 health for WoH to be fully effective. if you have a divine boon up with these stats, your ally would have to be at 50 health or WoH is just an elite version of orisons with an 11 health bonus and an extra 2 seconds of recharge.

i think this is actually one of the most pointless monk elites the way its set up. ive always felt like it was broken but i gave up that thought a while back when it still hadnt been fixed.

When using a skill, even OoB, you want to find how much bonus healing you are generating by using it. Using OoB essentially gives you a heal other for 5 mana that can be used every 15 seconds. At 10 blood I believe it gives 16 mana with a total energy gain of 11. Using heal other with this mana gives you a 190 heal every 15 seconds. This equates to a bonus of 12.66 health gain per second.

Summary: Each offering of blood used consumes 5 energy and equates to a 190 heal (using heal other) regardless of the target's health. Health per second: 12.66

WoH, on the other hand, can be cast every 4 seconds, and can heal for roughly the same as heal other if used when the target is under 50% health. Each time WoH is used when the target is under 50% health gives a 190 heal for 5 mana. This seems oddly farmiliar to OoB, allowing a heal of 190 health for 5 mana, but with a 4 second cooldown instead of a 15.

Summary: Each WoH used while the target is under 50% health heals for 190 health. Health per second: 47.5

Yes, the statistics for WoH seem imbalanced, and they are. Realistically, you are not going to be able to use WoH every 4 seconds on a target under 50% health. But even using it once every 15 seconds on a target under 50% health makes it on par with OoB. But there is also the 61 attribute points sacrificed by using OoB that can be applied to divine favor for bonus heals on every heal. In addition, using WoH on a target above 50% health still grants a bonus 11 health each cast bringing even more to the table. On top of that, to use OoB effectively you must have both OoB and heal other. This uses 2 slots instead of the one needed for WoH. There is also the cast times of using OoB. Yes, it only has a 1/4 second cast, but there is a casting delay after the cast of every spell where another spell can not be used.

In short, WoH is a cost efficient skill that can ultimately save more mana/heal for more than an energy management skill such as OoB. While it may feel like you are gaining more by using OoB, WoH used effectively can be much better.

Note: numbers are given with 16 attribute points.

I do not believe the 50% check is taken AFTER all of the other heals. I created a PvP character and went to the training ground area. I casted WoH on a burning student as close as I could tell at 50%, and they received the bonus healing involved. I will post screenshots soon showing this as well as I could with screenshots.

Quote: Originally Posted by LeDen

I think it is a great skill, but since it is elite I never take it because there are so many better elites. It is about the same to me as Mark of Protection. Both can be really great, but have a huge drawback that make it almost impossible for them to make it on my skill bar (WoH being elite and MoP taking 45!!! seconds to recharge).

Before I got a 55 monk, Word of Healing was my best friend <3

WoH can be used to replace Orison thus saving up precious room on your skillbar and at the same time heal for extra if ally is under 50% health. The best thing I like about it is that it saves you from equipping Orison.

Quote: Originally Posted by d3kst3r WoH can be used to replace Orison thus saving up precious room on your skillbar and at the same time heal for extra if ally is under 50% health. The best thing I like about it is that it saves you from equipping Orison. No. Word of Healing replaces Heal Other, not Orison. They're much stronger heals than Orison, but aren't self targetable. It does not save you from equipping Orison if you previously had it on your bar.
Quote: Originally Posted by LouAl

this skill is a great skill when party run 2 monk backline. it sucks in HOH which most of party run 3 monk backline

Quote: Originally Posted by coldplay

WoH is pretty good if you cant take any kind of energy management skill(like if you are a mo/w using balance stance) but it just dosnt really compair to OoB energy efficiency wise and all around usefulness.

Reversal of Fortune is the same as Mark of protection and it isnt elite, am I right? They both do the same thing, one lasts a little less then the other

PvE: Rox. WoH doesn't work as described by the OP. If they are at 50% health when CAST, WoH gives its bonus. At 16 Healing Prayers, thats half health to full for a measily 5 mana. As a young monk I didn't know about Heal Other until i'd already gotten this spell, so 10 mana to do the same thing seemed an aweful waste. Go figure.

Its a core skill for my spam healer build and reccomended for the newb PvE monk who might let HP drop a little more than he should before swapping targets in his heal chain. Eventually, you will outgrow it, and it will be a sad day for you when you do.

PvP: take or leave. With so much mana degen hexes running rampant, spam healing is better left to a boon prot IMHO, reserving your elite for OoB or Mantra of Recall as described above. WoH has seen its way onto my skillslot a total of 5 times in PvP and each time ended disasterously. But I'm still new on that regard, so hopefully a vet PvPer will sound off soon with a war story (I love story time .

And Tweecers: RoF is a 1 time Mark of Prot. It drops as soon as that player takes damage. Good save your butt spell in nuke heavy areas, but making it a 1 time heal.

Quote: Originally Posted by d3kst3r

Quote: Originally Posted by Minus Sign

I use WoH.

I use it with Orison of Healing to spam heals.

I use it with Heal Other if the person is getting smacked up quite a bit.

I always use it.

It's a great spell.

You cannot live without WoH. :P

I like Word of healing too...
Mark of Protection is not always bad...
sure the 45 seconds is long...
but it will save ur life

I use it on my ranger runner. When going past the awful amount of ice imps on the way to marhans ^_^ just do a step forward to get out of the maelstrom and get that MoP up... It will save u for the next 10 seconds which is more than enough time to get away ^_^