I tried really hard to like the healing over time glyph, but it crippled me so badly that I had to get rid of it. Being more of a main healer, I was not able to take advantage of using this properly, which is sad, I do believe it can be effective and I may return to it to give it a go as time goes on. I am excited because as a guild we are starting to gain more healers and this will allow me the opportunity to try new styles and methods of healing with my Pali, as well as, give me the ability to play some of my other characters who have not been receiving much attention.
My main issue with the heal over time glyph for the Pali, was the fact that it crippled the heal that I use the most and attempting to alternate between flash of light and holy light was all but impossible for five man runs. The issue was that the HoT did not generate more heals than if I was machinge gun/spamming flash of light. The other issue was that with the health of the tank dipping extremely low, waiting on holy light to hit was cutting it too close in my book, and the fact that it lowered my mana more than I was comfortable with. The thing that made me feel more uncomfortable about the mana going lower also had to deal with those moments where there is a bad pull. Under regular cicrcumstances, I just go into spam flash of light heal, my tinket procs increasing my casting speed, and no issues. With the HoT glyph attached, it was guaranteed someone was going to die, if not everyone. I am accustomed to making decisions on letting one member die for the greater good, but this was entirely different. Perhaps if you have the inscription profession on your holy pali it could work by simply switching glyphs based upon your needs, but with my pali being an alchemist it is neither cost effective or cheap to switch between having a HoT and being able to heal effective.
In closing I do not want to give a negative review of this system; however, it must be taken in the context of how we use the abilities. In my situation a HoT was something I desired, but not able to afford. I do see the value of this glyph, but as it would apply currently, I am unable to use it. My hope is that in the future they will give the pali a good HoT spell. It would be nice, but until then, we will just dream!
This post was originally published on November 28, 2008, on the original Holy Shock blog site.