Rift Cleric 61 Warden Guide

Rift Cleric 61 Warden Guide by Ahov

61 Warden/12 Sentinel/3 Inquisitoris your ideal raid-healing spec. The points in Inquisitor offer you the highest tooltip values for a 61 Warden without missing important Sentinel talents. You may also remove one point from Inquisitor and replace with Touch the Light if you wish.

Intro

To be completely successful in Warden, you need to understand and predict the raid damage on any given encounter. If you cannot predict damage, you will be limited mainly to Effusion spam which will force you to catch-up with mana, and overall become an ineffective healer and a waste of a raid slot.

Buffs

Use Armor of Devotion and Bosun’s Blessing. Maintain Shared Excess on yourself, since the tank has a much lower chance of being topped off and you may position yourself based on your skill radii. Try to use Cascade during periods of low raid-damage.

Later in the guide there is a detailed description of when each skill should be used, as most of them are great on any given encounter, just at different times.

Macros

Healing Cataract/Healing Flood simplification (saves a button; if you need HF you can jump/move)

#show Healing cataract
suppressmacrofailures
cast healing cataract
cast healing flood

Cooldown (keep Tidal Surge on its own button just to monitor its availability. You may need it outside of major cooldowns!)

#show Wave of Renewal
suppressmacrofailures
cast tidal surge
cast Wave of Renewal

Mouseoverui spot heal (Good idea to keep orbs of the stream on separate key for optimal tank-healing. I like it in this macro just in case a raid member gets a targeted mechanic)

#show healing breath
suppressmacrofailures
cast @mouseoverui healing breath
cast @mouseoverui orbs of the stream

Self-cast Shared Excess

#show Shared Excess
suppressmacrofailures
cast @self Shared Excess

Aoe Dispel

#show Curative Waters
suppressmacrofailures
cast @self Curative Waters

ST dispel

#show Cleansing Waters
suppressmacrofailures
cast @mouseoverui Cleansing Waters

We can separate our heals into preemptive and reactive categories with moderate accuracy:

Preemptive
Healing Spray
Soothing Stream
Orbs of the Tide
Orbs of the Stream
Healing Cataract*
Monsoon/Ripple*
Healing Flood
Geyser

Reactive
Overflowing Renewal
Healing Breath
Pool of Restoration
Wave of Renewal*
Downpour
Healing Effusion

Skills marked * are usable in both situations but preferred usage is their main category.

Individual Heal Explanations

Healing Spray is an efficient one-gcd tank-heal for when you have little else to do. Don’t stress yourself over maintaining it; your primary role is still raid healing. If you feel your gcd would be better spent regenerating some mana, then do so. If Healing Flood/Orbs are already active, HS on yourself is a little added Shared Excess healing potential for severe raid damage. Do not bother for minor damage, and do not prioritize over maintaining Dangers of the Deep.

Soothing Stream is an inefficient tank-heal and in most circumstances I would avoid it. For PvP if you find yourself in smaller battles, it may be wise to switch to Sentinel or Defiler. If it’s just a short battle and you need to heal one target, by all means stack SSx4 on them.

Orbs of the Tide is an effective preemptive raid heal, only limited by its short radius. Cast on the tank.

Orbs of the Stream is an excellent preemptive tank heal. Generally prioritize over Healing Breath, unless you need to reserve it for a spike-damage mechanic, such as Laethys’ breath.

Healing Cataract is considered primarily a preemptive heal because you benefit from understanding the raid damage will be light-moderate, and that Cataract will be sufficient. If the raid damage is consistent but not too strong, then Cataract is your go-to heal to conserve mana and pump out excellent HPS. Often overlooked strong point of Cataract: the 38-meter heal radius.

Monsoon is your best preemptive heal and should be reserved for the worst of the raid damage. It currently does not work with Tidal Surge. Ripple is best used directly following a Monsoon, unless you are in a 10-man. Apply Monsoon and toward the end of the duration

Healing Flood is better HPS than Healing Cataract, and should generally be prioritized as a preemptive heal. It also applies the synergy crystal bonus and 10% increased incoming healing. However, keep in mind Healing Flood is limited with a short 23-meter radius.

Geyser is your main dps ability when you still need to output some healing. When everyone is topped off and your Healing Flood is already active, maybe you’re in doubt about what to do: just Geyser. Remember: it is important to maintain stacks of Dangers of the Deep. If you are confident there is a minimal need for you to heal at all, feel free to use Call of the Depths/Dehydrate/Vex for some bonus dps.

Overflowing Renewal: generally you should use Healing Breath/Orbs of the Stream/HS ahead of OR, but when all of those unavailable, OR is the way to go. You may combine this with Touch the Light and Tidal Surge for a mobile emergency tank heal. The splash healing is a nice addition but should not be relied upon.

Healing Breath is your reliable reactive spot heal. Not necessarily reserved for tanks, this is an efficient alternative to your aoe heals when the damage is limited to one player.

Pool of Restoration is a chaotic powerhouse. You can get unlucky with it and sometimes it will not prioritize those who need the healing, but if you need to move I would use this over Healing Effusion in general as it’s more mana-efficient and holds higher potential for hps. PoR can be a nice tank-heal if the raid is topped off.

Wave of Renewal is your best reactive cooldown. Whether or not you were prepared for the damage, this skill will completely top off everyone within the initial 18-meter radius, and if you finish the channel it will heal your entire raid again, with a 38-meter radius. Always combine this with Tidal Surge.

Downpour maintains higher hps than Healing Catarct. However, it is heavily limited by its short radius; I don’t use it unless the raid is stacked. Also, it is affected by pushback as it is a channel and not a casted heal. Tidal Surge is not really worth using here.

Healing Effusion is your last resort. It is acceptable to use HE for unpredictable raid damage, which you feel cannot be healed in time with anything else outside of your major cooldowns (Monsoon/Wave of Renewal). It is also acceptable to manage your mana and use HE to quickly top people off if you predict downtime to regen mana, and the primary goal is to top people off quickly to prevent combo deaths (Ex: purple bubbles exploding on Hardmode Progenitor)

Final Notes

It is important to maintain Dangers of the Deep at all times. The extra 15% healing is crucial toward providing emergency burst heals. If you’re not maintaining Dangers of the Deep through damaging abilities (primarily Geyser), you should take a hard look at your current encounter and find time to do so. If you’re at 0 dps and can’t fix that, you should consider another role.

Wardens are not the best general raid healers. LGV Chloromancers are the kings of efficiency, and offer much higher raid dps and equivalent or better healing throughput than a Warden. However, Wardens can top off the entire raid with incredible cooldowns in Monsoon or Wave of Renewal, and their true strength is derived from managing these cooldowns, particularly during movement phases. Wardens have a strong mobility advantage, and most successful raids will bring one Warden to cover any Chloromancer’s shortcomings.