Interface Crash and Holy Paladin

Interface Crash and Holy Paladin

There was a moment in the Wild family when it looked like all of the player settings for every character had been wiped out. I was playing around with the Icy Veins recommended addon ElvUI. The addon is a complete replacement of the standard user interface. I didn't experiment on any active character. I tried it on Javajoo. Java is a paladin, like Jocy, and I wanted to experiment with a Holy spec using the new interface. Bottom line - messing with the interface is dangerous, particularly one that takes over completely. I got things set back where they should be without having to do anything drastic. That should have given Jocy the hint that maybe she should let things be.

But she won't. Somehow the bug to attempt the art of healing has lodged in her brain. Why would whe even bother trying a Holy spec? The idea just won't go away. Guilds, Bosses . . . uh, well, Raiding. There, she said it. She's got the itch. Maybe. Maybe not, but she's curious.

Meitha Guild is also thinking about it, planning it out. "You want to raid, get your gear to iLevel 680. Be ready." Jocy decided to, at the least, check things out.

First of all, she couldn't show up at a raid in her mushed together protection spec/DPS mode which she uses for solo work. It won't work in a raid environment. Jocy also has no intention of trying to be a tank, her own raiders would kill her for incompetence. She "might" consider retribution spec, but in all likelihood the guild will have more than enough DPS raiders with far better skills than Jocy.
Where does that leave Jocy? Raids always need healers, so if Jocy is the least bit serious, she'd better check her healing gear. In tank or retribution spec Jocy's gear level is i693. However, in Holy spec that gear falls to i679. Yes, it's close enough, if they are desperate for a healer. IF.

Jocy already has all the best gear that the Auction House can provide. However, there is something else she can do. Her Steelforged Saber of the Deft (i705) is a beautiful blade . . . but she can't use it in Holy spec. She has only a one-hand axe (i645) and an off-hand (i665) for healing. The axe is a Crafted one (1 of 6), so she could upgrade it to i705 as well, but it would be silly to combine that with an i665 off-hand that ought to be coupled with a Crafted off-hand. Jocy thought she had the right answer - get a Crafted two-hand Staff, like the one Fist has. Jocy dismally discovered that Holy paladins can't use staffs. Digging deeper, almost every weapon is outlawed to a holy paladin. No two-handers of any kind are allowed. That leaves just two one handed weapons to pick from. So, making the best of things, Jocy can upgrade her current blade to i675 and do the same with a new, Crafted shield or off-hand. Even that posed some problems, but she was finally able to maneuver her gear around to get to the magic i680.

Next, two things need to happen that don't have anything to do with gear levels. First, she has to get her addons set up for healing spec. No one in the Wild family has ever healed as a Holy Paladin. Second, she must practice. Go to the Proving Grounds and run that raid as many times as necessary to learn all of the spells and abilities and how/when to best use them.

That's as far as Jocy is ready to go so far. The third and fourth steps, if she is up to it, will be doing some LFR's (Looking For Raids) to get some practical experience after such a long lay off. It will be ugly. It wouldn't be a surprise if she were kicked from raids for a while. If she can stomach that, then she might suggest to the Meitha guild that Jocy is available for raids.